Low relief clothes display form with shoulder notches

ABSTRACT

A low relief clothes display form has notches in the shoulders to prevent clothing straps from slipping off the shoulders. The display form is displayed in vertical position, typically through the use of a hanging hook at the top of the display form. The notches may include an undercut on the downward side of the notch to minimize the chances of a strap slipping out of the notch and falling off of the shoulder.

BACKGROUND

[0001] To display swimsuits for sale in stores, it is well known to create an inexpensive low relief form in the shape of a human torso and display the swimsuit on the form as if the suit were on a human body. Relief in the form can be so low as to be virtually flat, such as a cutout of one-quarter inch thick foam. Preferably, the relief is about one to two inches, which is enough to illustrate the shape and yet not require too much space in a hanging rack for each swimsuit. For display on a hanging rack, the form includes a hook at the neck. Alternatively, the hook may be omitted and the forms may be stacked on display shelves or racks or supported on poles from the floor. Commonly, the low relief clothes display form is made of a thin sheet of plastic, such as PVC or PET which is heated to a formable state and pulled by a vacuum into a mold where it cools and then retains the shape. The edges of the plastic are cut by a stamping process.

[0002] Being merely a human torso, the clothes display form is suitable for any clothing that does not cover the legs, arms, or head, including swimsuits, sleeveless shirts, and vary short pants or skirts. For such items of clothing that have merely a strap passing over the shoulder, such as swimsuits for women, the straps frequently fall off of the shoulder when the form is handled.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0003] In one aspect, the invention consists of notches placed in the shoulders of a low relief clothes display form. Clothing straps will fit into the notches to prevent the straps from slipping off of the shoulder. The notches may include an undercut on the downward side of the notch to minimize the chances of a strap slipping out of the notch and falling off of the shoulder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0004]FIG. 1 shows a low relief clothes display form with shoulder notches.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0005]FIG. 1 shows a low relief clothes display form 1 made of a sheet of thin plastic formed by a thermo-vacuum process followed by stamping the perimeter. The form in FIG. 1 includes a hook 2, but the hook may be omitted. The mold for making the form and the stamp for cutting the form both include notches 3 at the shoulder. The notches are preferably between one-eighth inch deep and one-half inch deep, although any depth which causes the slope of the shoulder to become flat or upturned for a long enough length to hold a strap is sufficient. As shown in FIG. 1, the notches 3 may include an undercut 4 to increase the security with which a clothing strap is retained in the notch.

[0006] Although a particular embodiment has been shown and described, the invented low relief clothes display form with shoulder notches may be embodied in enumerable other configurations. 

I claim:
 1. A low relief clothes display form with shoulder notches.
 2. The form of claim 1 wherein the notches are for restraining clothing straps from falling off the shoulder.
 3. The form of claim 1 wherein the notches include an undercut. 